U.s. Army Command and General Staff College

Cyber Warfare - China's Strategy to Dominate in Cyber Space (Defense) U.s. Army Command and General Staff College

China?s INEW doctrine combining network attack with electronic warfare supports the use of cyber warfare in future conflict. The IW militia unit organization provides each Chinese military region commander with unique network attack, exploitation, and defense capabilities. IW unit training focuses on improving network attack skills during military exercises. The integration of the IW militia units with commercial technology companies provides infrastructure and technical support enabling the units to conduct operations. The IW units gather intelligence on an adversary?s networks identifying critical nodes and security weaknesses. Armed with this intelligence, these units are capable of conducting network attack to disrupt or destroy the identified critical nodes of an enemy?s C4ISR assets allowing China to use military force in a local war. In an effort to regain its former status, China pursues the strategic goal of reunification of its claimed sovereign territories and lands using economic influence as the primary means but will resort to military force if necessary. Recent cyber activities attributed to China suggest that network exploitation is currently underway and providing military, political, and economic information to the CCP. Domestically and internationally, China views Taiwan and the United States respectively as the major threats to the CCP.